Five-time MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi is geared up and ready for the 2008 season, confident he can win back the title which has eluded him for the past two years.
The season kicks off this weekend with the Qatar Grand Prix, which will be the first-ever staged at night.
''There are a lot of reasons why we should do well this year. I found the bike very competitive in pre-season tests and I'm happy with the Bridgestone tires,'' Rossi said ahead of the race weekend. The Yamaha rider switched to Bridgestone tires this year after having repeated trouble with the Michelin ones he used last season, which was his worst-ever in motocycling's premier class. He placed third after coming in second in 2006 and winning five titles in a row before that.
''I'm very happy with my tires and the new bike is very good. Of course we still have work to do but, overall, I'm confident,'' Rossi said.
Although Rossi switched to Bridgestone, his Spanish teammate Jorge Lorenzo will still be using Michelin tires. Last week Rossi tested nighttime racing at Qatar's Losail track and gave it his thumbs up.
''The conditions were very similar to daytime riding.
The visibility was excellent and I didn't see any additional dangers due to the lighting,'' the 29-year-old Italian said.
''They did an excellent job with the lights and you can ride just the same as you can by day,'' he added.
The biggest problem, the Yamaha rider observed, was the cold desert temperature ''which will affect the tires. Maybe in the future they should move this race to a time when it's a little warmer at night, because it's really cold now''.
Organizers opted for a nighttime race in Qatar because of the extreme heat during the day.
The Losail track is about the size of 70 football fields and to illuminate it the American company Musco set up a system which needs 5.4 million watts of power.
The same amount could illuminate 3,000 homes or light up a street running from the capital of Qatar Doha all the way to Moscow.
Many observers believe that this may be a make-or-break season for Rossi and that if he doesn't win the championship he will quit racing.
However, he has flatly denied and said: ''Me? Retire? No way. I don't know why people keep asking me that. I'll keep on racing as long as I have a chance of winning''.
One of the reasons Rossi is expected to keep racing is to set even more records Aside from his five premier titles, Rossi also won the 125cc and 250cc championships titles to bring his career total to seven.
Rossi is tied with Australia's Michael Doohan for championship titles and consecutive titles, five, while Italy's Giacomo Agostini holds the record for consecutive titles, seven, overall premier class titles, eight, andGrand Prix titles, 15. .
Rossi holds the all-time records for podium finishes and fastest laps in a season in the premier class.
